The Phoenix

Volume 15Issue 1September 2013

Doral Academy Preparatory11100 NW 27th StreetDoral, Florida 33172

Catastrophe strikes New Jersey By Priscilla CorreaEditor-in-Chief

It has been almost a year since the devastating destruction of the Jersey

Shore boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy passed through the tri-state area. Now the Garden State has faced another trag-edy. On Thursday, Sep-tember 12, a fire broke out on the famous Jersey Shore boardwalk, de-stroyed 68 businesses and spread five blocks down. The cause of the fire was not released until that Tuesday.

Later that week, after cleaning up and trying to maneuver through the de-bris, officials determined the cause of the fire to be accidental. They reported that the sand and water

from last year’s late-season hurricane had been caused an electrical malfunction. Many still believe that the fire was not acciden-

tal due to the extent of the damage, but several differ-ent officials have already claimed it was accidental. Families and businesses worried about job losses . Some wondered if the boardwalk could be rebuilt and if they could continue their business. Other wondered how long it wouldtake till the boardwalk is up and ready for business as they would all be taking a hit finan-cially to their per-

sonal budgets since they would be losing monthly incomes. Ms. Jenny Rizzo, photo teacher, said, “It’s a great tragedy and I do hope that every one of those families that lost money and their business has a big fortune in the future to make up for the lost time.”

Governor Chris Chris-tie promised government

funding to the tune of $15 million to repair the col-lateral damage. He is also working with insurance companies to find ways to pay for the damage as well as postponing state sales tax for all business-es on the boardwalk. This all after paying $87,000 to fix all the damage from Hurricane Sandy.

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Courtesy of Google Images

By Nicole SolerFeatures Editor

The Jihadist terror at-tack at Fort Hood mili-tary base happened on November 5, 2009, but is still a major case in the courts and around the nation. “I heard of this case a long time ago, but I never knew it was go-ing to make headlines a second time since it happened. It’s great that the media is putting an emphasis on punishing those who disturb Amer-ica’s peace,” said sopho-more Angelica Arguello. Nidal Malik Hasan is a Jihadist based at Fort Hood, Texas as a U.S.

Hasan faces death penaltyArmy Major and psy-chiatrist. Hasan shot 13 people to death while injuring over 30 others at the base. Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down from the wounds he incurred as Army per-sonnel attempted to stop his rampage. He was sent to military court on July 20, 2011. “It surprises me that a person who works for our government and is supposed to protect us put the lives of countless soldiers in danger,” said sophomore Irene Arritola. Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditat-ed murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. Since convicted, he faces

the death penalty. “I think he deserves life in prison, the death penalty will only give him an escape from torture, not a full price to pay,” said soph-omore Laura Vasquez. After Hasan decided to act as his own law-yer, he did not present a defense at his military trial on August 21. He did not take the stand to testify, but did admit on August 6 to being the gunman. Hasan is the first defendant in a mili-tary capital punishment case to represent himself and only made a couple of objections. The Army defense team assigned

to him had prepared to call in 59 witnesses. Prosecutors led by Lt. Col. Kris Poppe lobbied for the death sentence. On August 28, Nidal Malik Hasan was sen-tenced to death, and is the sixth person to be on military death row. “I am pleased with the ver-dict. He was judged by his peers, and was still able to get what he deserves. The only reason why I would disagree with the sentence is if they had done a psychlogical eval-uation that reavealed he was off his rockers” said Mr. Emerio Diaz.

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courtesy of www.wptv.com

Juror’s delibirations have come to an end.

Soldiers commemorate the loss of their personnel.

Hasan awaits his turn for the lethal injection, as he has now been sentenced to death for those he harmed at the tragedy in Fort Hood.

By Andre PadillaStaff Writer America asks, is Alex Rodriguez still using performance enhancing drugs? The Yankees’ third baseman already admitted to using PEDs from the 2001 through 2003 sea-sons, but claims he hasn’t taken them since. He is the only player out of the 14 accused to decline his punishment, but MLB is still investigating A-Rod’s medical records. Although Rodriguez is not answering questions, others are willing to talk. An anonymous high-rank-ing official told USA To-day claims that there is solid evidence that he took performance enhanc-

ing drugs during the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. Louise Neathway, former mistress of Brian Cash-man (one of Rodriguez’s attorneys) claims that Cashman told her he in-tentionally misled federal investigators during other cases such as the Roger Clemens case. Neathway also said that Cashman also knew about other players using steroids. Sophomore Giancarlo Cheesman said, “It affects baseball as a whole by giving an unfair advan-tage to the players using the drugs.” MLB is trying to finalize a 211 game sus-pension for A-Rod. While many people think this suspension is too crucial

others think this punish-ment on point. Giancarlo Cheesman, sophomore, said, “I believe that the MLB is making an excel-lent decision in suspend-ing him due to the evi-dence against him.” Not only is Alex Ro-driguez fighting the MLB, he is also fighting against his own team, the New York Yankees. Accord-ing to USA Today’s Bob Nightingale, “Rodriguez’s attorneys have asked the union to formally begin a grievance process against the Yankees for alleged-ly mishandling his med-ical treatment.” A-Rod’s attorneys claim that the Yankees might have pur-posely deceived one of

A-Rod’s doctors. A-Rod was initially diagnosed with a right hip injury, but attorneys say the Yankees organization was hiding that he was actually in-jured on the left side of the hip. Currently, the Yan-kees are awaiting approv-al to release Rodriguez’s medical records. All this commotion about A-Rod benefits at least one person. That per-son is Milwaukee Brew-ers’ Ryan Braun. Although Braun is currently being scolded by many for us-ing PEDs, people are now saying, “At least he’s not A-Rod.” Braun has been the only player out of the 14 who admitted to using the drugs.

A-Rod fights MLB sanctions

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Hunger Games sequel By Scarlet ChinchillaStaff Writer The People’s Choice Awards’ nominatee and winner of the category Favorite Action Mov-ie, The Hunger Games now has a sequel called Catching Fire which is set to be released November 22. Catching Fire is based on the sec-ond book of the se-ries written by Su-zanne Collins. The director is Francis Lawrence and cast members include Jennifer Law-rence, Josh Hutch-erson and Liam Hemsworth. The story follows up as Katniss (Law-rence) comes back home with her love-bird Peeta (Hutch-erson) after win-ning the so-called Hunger Games. The two embark on a journey through the districts discovering that not everything is as beautiful as it seems. People from different districts show signs of re-bellion and hatred

toward the capital, but President Snow, with double intentions, plans the 75th hunger games with a purpose that no-body knows but is clear as water itself. Not only will the au-

dience experience new adventures,they will be able to live them with new tributes including Finnick Odair (Sam Cla-flin), Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), Brutus (Bruno Gunn) and Mags

(Lynn Cohen). “The movie is very true to the book,” Di-rector Francis Lawrence said. Lawrence and Col-lins met not long ago to go over the screenplay with the purpose of mak-

ing it as realistic as described in the book. “We made some changes to Peeta’s lines. We manned him up more,” Law-rence explained. Ac-cording to sources, the Catching Fire screenplay routes the introduction of District 13 and the rebellion in a dif-ferent way. Charac-ters were also taken off. We won’t be able to see Darius, a peacekeeper and of course, Bonnie and Twill, District 8 runaways who introduce the exis-tence of District 13. “I loved the first movie; in fact, it’s my favorite movie now, but I think the second one will be better,” said Chan-telle Lavandera, freshman.

Courtesy of Fanpop.com.

in development

By Anuar AlyStaff Editor Doral Academy has invested in a brand new building full of facilities for students and admin-istration to use. The new structure is called the “D Building” but is also re-ferred to as the Gym by students and administra-tion. It is large in size and is chock-full of cool and modern technology that is believed to reflect on the performance of the Doral sports teams. Language Arts teach-er Maria Regojo said, “I think the new building will give players morale because it gives them

D Building open and runningmore to work with and will improve the way they play on the court and on the field. I believe it will build up their comradery because they are working together during lifts and can inspire one another to meet their goals and surpass them.” The first floor of the new facility consists of a full sized basketball court with many baskets. The court is based on a new laminated wood floor which will be a great change for the basketball team; moving from con-crete to wood. “I love the basketball courts, they look awesome and the fact

that I can watch games from the balcony upstairs makes it even better,” said Brian Pino-Moore, fresh-man. The court also has a roll-out wrestling mat, powerful speakers for presentations and rallies and a bathroom complete with showers to freshen up after a workout. The weight room and athletic training facility can be found on the sec-ond floor of the build-ing. The training room has multiple beds, ice baths, electric stimula-tion machines and tons of supplies to help prevent and treat any injury. The weight room, located next

to it, is complete with four squat racks, four Olym-pic lifting mats with the Doral logo placed directly in the center. Treadmills and many other state of the art machines will optimize workouts. The weight room overlooks the basketball courts so students and administra-tion can enjoy their work-out while viewing any practice or game. The third and final floor of the building is composed of the orches-tra room. The orchestra room is full of new musi-cal tools and will help stu-dents perfect their skills with any instrument.

By Steven KellyStaff Writer

Insidious 2 is a thrill-er sweeping the nation and claiming to be harsh, dramatic and a nail biting event to scare audiences to a pulp. The dramatic thriller is becoming well known nationwide. Max Schneider, producer, commented on the mov-ie calling it “the scari-est movie he has ever watched” and other au-dience members support his statement.

The sequel to insidious has the same cast and said to bring more elements of surprise to keep the audi-ence on its toes. Senior Walter Gutierrez said, ”Falling off my seat is an understatement,” as he recalled the scene. Some other audience members also left the the-ater too horrified to stay. Director James Wan said,” The thriller met every ex-pectation.” No obstacle was too great as the movie combines the elements of surprise and darkness to

draw the audience in. Audience members were in for a treat as they were handed heart beat monitors on Friday the 13th. Results, like the au-dience, were to die for. On

Insidious 2 hits theatresthe bright side, no casu-alty occurred during the film, but proved the level of horror that awaits its

next victim.

A delight in terror.....

By Rodrigo ArauzStaff Writer

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. (snazzy acronym for Strategic Homeland Interven-tion Enforcement and Logistics Division) is an upcoming televi-sion series airing on ABC, being developed by director Joss Whe-don. Whedon directed the box office smash hit The Avengers (this series being a spin-off of it), which was released in the sum-mer of 2012. Before that Whedon was well known in geek circles for being the creator of cult-TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel.

S.H.I.E.L.D., as an organization in the comics, is a constant presence and brings a spy-thriller atmo-sphere in the midst of characters with super-powers. Since the first part of the show’s title is Agents, they are the series’ focus and pro-vide much of the com-ical dialogue Whedon shows are known for. The most prominent cast member is Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, who is in charge of a small team of agents tasked with special missions. “In my opinion, it doesn’t seem different enough from those types of shows. I didn't like the previews I saw,” said David Molina, junior.

Coulson seemed to have (spoiler for The Avengers) per-ished but is somehow back, which will be ex-plained in the show’s pilot. “They need a good reason to bring [Coulson] back in or-der for the premise to work,” said Andres Fernandez, junior. The rest of the main cast is composed of Chloe Bennet, Eliza-beth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dal-ton. Playing the agents on the team, each has a different skillset that brings an interesting dynamic to the stories. As the show is based on Marvel Comics’ big action sequences and high-tech gad-

getry are par for the course. The pilot was shown at San Diego Comic Con and met a posi-tive reaction, but time will tell the general public’s verdict. Whe-don said, “What does S.H.I.E.LD. have that other superheroes don’t? And that, to me, is that they’re not superheroes, but they live in that universe. Even though they’re a big organization, that [lack of powers] makes them underdogs, and that’s interesting to me.” So if you want super-hero action with the underdogs and a good sense of humor, tune in to ABC on Tuesday

Joining the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Promotional posters of the series logo. and characters. courtesy of www.thedailyzombies.com

By Alberto LemaStaff Writer Riots, death, shoot-ings and mass arrests. That is the daily life in Egypt since Janu-ary 25 of 2011, when the Egyptians first re-belled against Hos-ni Mubarak’s 30 year dictatorship. However, the attempt of the first democratic government in three decades hasn’t worked that well for the Egyptians, because Mubarak’s Islamic suc-cessor Mohamed Mursi has given away pow-er due to the protests. Since July 3 Mursi has out of the power. Sub-sequently, Egypt has fallen even deeper in the hole that led to a civil war due to the ri-ots leaving zones of

Protests are highly controlled by the police in cities like Cairo.

Rebels attempt to take-control of the streets from Egyptian Army forces.

Protests generally tend to violence against the security forces.

Death and sadness fills the Egyptian capital as the riots continue.

Cairo full of injured and dead people. At least 70 members of the police and army have been killed, 850 other fatalities have been counted most of them appeared to be un-armed supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the deposed pres-ident Mohamed Mursi , and 400 of them were found dead. Numbers of the fatalities have been increasing week by week, the weeks be-fore the deaths have achieved numbers of

377 and 288, according to the Egyptian health ministry. Adding to the unsafe atmosphere in Egypt, Moktar Belmoktar, con-sidered by many to be the most dangerous man in the Sahara, is now officially joining forces with a Mali-based jihad-ist group and vowing to stage attacks in Egypt, according to a statement posted on the Maurita-nian Nouakchott Infor-mation Agency website. All of that is thrown in the mix of an already

unstable country, which may be in the binge of a civil war. However many like Mursi be-lieve that the civil war will never happen, but the release of Mubarak from jail has brought up the thoughts of the dic-tator trying regain pow-er and that makes the people more nervous. Egypt faces one of the most violent moments in their history, which could end up on a civil war or a continuation of the events happening, and a continuation of those incidents wouldn’t lead to a clear answer in a short time, which will affect the country eco-nomically and socially. Neither of those solu-tions would benefit the Egyptian government or the people.

Photo courtesy of :Reuters.com

Egypt: Country on the brink A descent into chaos

couresty Reuters.com

ourtesy of: www.theguardian.co.ukcourtesy of AP.com

Egypt: Country on the brink By Chris AmadorStaff Editor

Welcome back Firebirds, I hope summer brought fun, rest and noth-ing but good times. Class is now in session and so are new music releas-es in several differ-ent genres includ-ing Alternative Rock, Pop, Rap and R&B. These releases include alternative rock band Kings of Leon’s Mechani-cal Bull, and last but not least, rap sensation Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, both to be released on late September or early October . Kings of Leon broke through the music charts with their third album be-

cause of times with their successful smash hit On Call in 2006-09 but hav-en’t had to much success since then including having to go on hiatus for almost sixth months due to “per-

New songs to hit the charts

sonal problems” within the band. Mechanical Bull was a shocker to fans because everyone had thought they were over but bass player Jared Followill said, “We aren’t done yet, we are working on a sixth album.” This was said to be released on Sept 24. Although not very much information has been let out about the al-bum, they do have a single which you can hear on you-tube called Supersopaker which you can hear to get

a taste on what to expect for the new album. A lot of art-ists have made a titanic ap-pearance on the rap scene but not many have succeed-ed like Drake. Both his first and second al-bum hit num-ber one on the charts, putting him up there as one of the greatest in the business. Nothing Was the Same is Drake’s third

album and according to his latest hit Starded From The Bottom is on the path to becoming another one of his classics. In an inter-view with XXl he said, “I don’t plan on making any-thing the same, everything I do is new,” meaning that this new album will be completely different from his last projects. Check out his single on youtube and put your two cents on it.

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World Cup qualifiers draw to a closeBy Mateo HaydarStaff Writer The 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for coun-tries in North, Central and South America are still in play as soccer fans wait to see the final results of the tables and watch over for their na-tional teams with anxiety to see who will qualify for next year’s cup. World Cup, which is made up of 32 teams, will take place next year in Brazil. As statistics show, contests are ex-tremely heated even as they draw to an end. In South America,

the contest drew into the final months with Argen-tina, Colombia and Ecua-dor leading the chart and Chile, Uruguay and Ven-ezue la slightly behind as they m a d e t h e top six squads with a fighting chance of making the top five with further opportunity to make it to Brazil next year. “The qualifiers have been heat-ed this year and it’s been

interesting to watch for both soccer and non-soc-cer fans,” said Adrian Corzo, freshman. The big three (Argentina, Colom-

bia and Ecuador) had an outstand-ing per-formance in the previous m o n t h s and had a smooth

transition from early prospects into the top three in comparison to the succeeding three (Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela) whose performance was weaker than expected. The contest in North and Central America, which proceeds by pro-cess of elimination, drew into the final months with the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Jamaica and Honduras as the final and last stand-

ing contestants as of Sep-tember. “I can’t wait for next year’s World Cup and hope that the US has a high performance com-ing out of the qualifiers,” said Alex Rivera, fresh-man. With the ultimate top three making the final round, the contest was a heated one and demon-strated the best of every team. As 2014 nears and the World Cup comes clos-er it is evident that these qualifiers were heated ones. As they drive into the final stage, the top contenders await with high expectations (and their fans await with high levels of anxiety) to see the results into the later months, after months of watching, cheering and waiting. As the World Cup proceeds, the Amer-icas await the results of the contest.

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By Andrea SalgadoStaff Writer Being a performing arts school, Doral Acade-my prides itself on having some of the most talented students take part in their curriculum. With a new building added to campus earlier this year, rumors of an auditorium float-ed around the hallways. Some may wonder what the performing arts stu-dents and administrators in the drama department thought about the antici-pated auditorium. The new building con-sists of a gym where the school’s basketball team will be able to play their first ever home game. The old gym was where the auditorium was to be placed, but was turned into three separate classrooms.

Junior Andy Beheit has been part of the Perform-ing Arts Musical Theatre program for all of her high school career. A dedicat-ed actress and singer, she was disappointed when the news of not having an auditorium reached her during the summer. “Though I am disappoint-ed and I feel we really do need an auditorium, we have been doing amaz-ing shows for three years without one.” When asked what she expects from her peers for the following year she said, “Without a doubt we will be putting on amazing productions that will show off the ar-tistic value of our pro-gram.” When asked how the lack of an auditorium was to affect his musical the-

atre program for the fol-lowing school year, Mr. Shawn Sears said, “It cer-tainly challenges us to do shows that will fit in our existing space. It can lim-it us, but in the end good theatre is good theatre.” On an optimistic note, Firebirds can expect to see amazing shows this year from the theatre program. If lack of an auditorium didn’t stop Sears before, it certainly won’t stop him now. As drama department veteran Andy Beheit had her reasons for being up-set about the lack of an au-ditorium for this year, her colleague, junior Easton Coccera, felt differently. “I don’t see it as an issue.” said Coccera. “We’ve done shows in Mr.Sears small room and they’ve

all come out spectacular-ly. This is only making us better.” School administration has made it their next proj-ect to add an auditorium that will benefit the entire school. Having already bought the empty lot next to the middle school their next project will consist of construction on the long awaited auditorium. “We are currently in the process of planning it, and we’re on stage three of planning. In the meantime we will utilize the new gym for school activities,” said Vice Principal Carlos Ferralls. “An auditorium will benefit our school in many different ways with all the different assem-bly’s and programs our school holds throughout the year,” he added.

Courtesy of doralacademyprep.enschool.orgCourtesy of http://doralacademyprep.enschool.org/

Auditorium plans underwayLot next to A building is site of next addition to school

By Nicholas WarringStaff Writer Our generation’s movie genre of choice has become superhero movies. From Man of Steel to the ever popular The Avengers, fans sim-ply cannot get enough of seeing their favor-ite comic book heroes and villains on the big screen. Now comic gi-ant Marvel is a looking to piggy back on the success of The Aveng-ers and has entered into phase two of the uni-verse, which began with Iron Man 3. Now Marvel is plan-ning to bring us Thor: The Dark World which is set to hit theaters No-vember 8. Sophomore

B r a n n d o n Baez said, “I’m mostly excited to see the progres-sion of Thor’s story and how it will affect the overall universe.” The new movie is ex-pected to in-clude more i n t e r a c t i o n between Thor and his allies as well as a more dynam-ic relationship between Thor and Jane Foster. Odin is also be-lieved to have a bigger role in the new movie. Thor, his allies and even

his brother Loki will have to come together to survive a vicious attack from Malekith, leader of the Dark Elves. This

movie differs from its prequel because unlike the first installment, this one will have an even amount of scenes on Earth and on Asgard whereas the first took place mainly on Earth. “I think the involvement on Asgard will be pret-ty cool. It will definitely test the creative mind of the director as he creates a fantasy world,” said senior Pierre Perez. Loki will also return for this picture after he leveled half of Man-hattan in The Avengers. Baez said, “Loki’s re-turn is not going to affect the overall plot. His role will likely be similar to that in Thor; he will try to destroy his brother in some evil scheme.” It will be interesting to see how Thor works with his adopted broth-er. Even though the movie’s release date is looming closer, director Alan Taylor has begun shooting more scenes in order to have coverage of Loki. Taylor said, “It was like oh we could do this or jam this in here because he’s just a won-derful guy to watch do his stuff, and boy do the fans love him.”

Thor: The Dark World set for release

Courtesy of Hollywoodreporter.comThe 2013 theatrical film release poster for Thor: The Dark World.

Courtesy of justjared.comChris Hemsworth rehearsing for his role as Thor.

Coutesy of flicksandbits.comThor: The Dark World fan paints a Loki painting.

By Jack MarquezEditor in Chief

“If you can’t be a mir-acle, become one,” said Activities Direc-tor Ady Nunez. Born

in Miami, Nunez grad-uated from Our Ladies of Lourdes. She soon earned her Bachelor of Arts at Miami Dade College so she could open her own retail

store. Several years into the industry she

found a passion for her children and only wanted the best for them. Working hard to

provide for her chil-dren, she was soon offerred a job at Doral Academy as an eighth grade teacher and class sponsor. Junior Loreana Rojo said,”

Ms. Nunez is a very hard working person who does anything to get the job done.” Nunez is currently the class sponsor for the eighth grade and Senior Class as well as being the Activi-ties Director. Her job is to plan activities for the school, such as the high school prom with the Student Council. Alondra Gonzalez, Senior Class President said, “Our new activ-ities director has so many great ideas to add

to our school. These ideas are going to make our school year one of the best ever.” Nunez has two chil-dren who currently attend Our Ladies of Lourdes, which she chose since all the girls in the family are Lourdes graduates. She is dedicated, hard working and ready to take on any job. Se-nior Miguel Ramirez said, “Nunez is what Doral Academy needs for new ideas to be brought to the school.”

Nunez appointed Activities Director

photo by Jack A. Marquez

Photo by Jack A. Marquez

Photo by Jack A. Marquez

Photography is the art of capturing and edit-ing photographs. Pho-tography has six differ-ent elements of design that create a striking photograph. These el-ements of design are line, shape, form, tex-ture, pattern and color. In addition to creat-ing that striking pho-tograph the subject of the photo should be clear to identify and that there is no dis-array. Every photo-graph does not need to have all six elements, but there should be at least three elements of design and every pho-tograph has a subject. Ninth grader Fabi-ola Colon was accept-

ed into Doral Acad-emy’s Performing Arts school for pho-tography and she felt “very excited and sur-prised to be accepted.” Colon found her in-terest for photography at the age of 12. The subject Colon said she likes to use in her photographs is, “either nature photography or self-portrait. My fa-vorite subject to use in self-portrait is my younger brother be-cause I never know how he will pose.” Being part of the Performing Arts is im-portant to her because “it looks good on my college application and second, I get to do something I love. Creating or sharing

my photographs with others is what I enjoy doing.” Colon is ded-icated to giving all her effort into her photos. Ninth grader Gen-evieve Clements was also accepted into photography this year and she was “ecstat-ic because she felt that she had made a great achievement.” In 2011 Clements got into photography and grew more inter-est toward photogra-phy. “Overall, I do not have a favorite subject to be in my photos.” Clements does not have a favorite subject because she’d rather capture pictures of a wide variety of sub-jects. “My inspiration to start photography

was an event called The World of Flow-ers.” To Clements be-ing part of the Perform-ing Art is “important to her because it allows her do something she loves and has a passion for.” Clements is eager to attend Doral Acade-my Performing Arts for her high school years. She hopes to learn and explore all the aspects of photography and to master the art so she can make the most of her photographs. The knowledge ac-quired from these pho-tographers was very different. Every pho-tographer has a differ-ent inspiration for pho-tography and what he or she likes to photograph.

Photo by Fabiola Colon Photo by Genevieve Clements

Photography provides creative outletBy Kristyanne Cabrera Staff Writer

triguing prospects for the Heisman this year. “There are a lot of great play-ers that can compete and win the Heisman this year since there is so much tal-ent,” said freshman Chris-tian Malagon. Candidates this year include Jadeveon Clowney, Braxton Miller, Johnny Manziel, A.J. Mc-Carron and Marcus Mari-ota. Jadeveon Clowney of South Carolina is a strong defensive end who made incredible plays last year. Clowney had 54 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks last year, and is expected to have another big year. Charles Woodson is the only other defensive player to win the Heisman. Braxton Miller is a dual threat quarterback who is very talented running and

By Andres TaquechelStaff Editor

The Heisman is the most prestigious award a college football player can receive, and there are many candi-dates this year. It is the award given to the most outstanding player in the NCAA that year and the athlete will be placed into college football histo-ry. The Heisman trophy has some very famous recipi-ents, including Tim Tebow, Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, Barry Sanders and Roger Staubach. The award cer-emony is on national tele-vision every year and is watched by many football fans. The ceremony takes place in New York City in December. There are several in-

passing the football. He had 3,310 yards running and passing while leading Ohio State to an undefeat-ed season last year and is expected to win games this year. Johnny Manziel was last year’s winner, as he made some spectacular plays run-ning and throwing the foot-ball. The Texas A&M quar-terback had a total of 5,116 yards passing and rushing yards last season. If he du-plicates his performance from last year, he will be a top candidate. However, due to off-the-field issues he could be suspended or

Hunt for the Heisman

Braxton Miller, after leading the Buckeyes to an undefeated season, is another enticing prospect for the Heisman trophy.

Johnny Manziel, the quarterback of Texas A&M University, has a great chance of winning another Heisman for his team this year. Manziel’s ability, especially his way to get out of the pocket and run, makes him a deadly weapon to opposing teams. However, playing in the Southeastern Conference against powerhouse teams like Alabama and Florida may diminish his chances of winning the trophy this year.

The Heisman Trophy has been around since 1935, and has been a major part of college football ever since.

ineligible to win the prize. Marcus Mariota, quarter-back for the Oregon Ducks, is another contender as his ability to throw the football and his underrated speed makes him a weapon. A.J. McCarron is a winner, al-ready securing two Nation-al Championships, and can be a contender if he plays well. Additional candidates could be Dri Archer (Kent State), Kadeem Carey (Arizona), Teddy Bridge-water (Louisville), Tajh Boyd (Clemson), Marqise Lee (USC), Todd Gurley (Georgia) and Brendan Bi-gelow (California).

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Courtesy of abcnewsradioonline.com

By Pamela OsorioStaff Writer Welcome to the new and improved 2013-2014 school year with all new and improved teams, gym, equipment and wins. Firebird Football is set for their up and coming victo-ries. This year the school built a new gym. The new building on the west side of the school was built with a new basketball court, the gym and a band room. Athletics Director Daniel Gonzalez said, “I feel like this gym is going to make a difference, not just for the athletics pro-gram, but for the whole school.” In the past, the school held basketball away games the whole year.With the new gym the school can show their school pride on the home court. Other than the new

basketball court a new weight room was built, located on the second floor of the new building. The equipment is great to

help them work out and get stronger. The weight room has new benches, squats, racks, plates and more. Junior Andres Pe-rez said, “I’m going to work hard, give good ef-fort and practice more.” This is exactly what the school is hoping to see out there from the running

back. Coach Steve Smith is a graduate of Heidel-berg University in Ohio. While attending he played

defensive tackle. This year the team has worked hard, is very committed to the game and very deter-mined. The team didn’t just get new equipment, they also got more space to work out. The gym doesn’t just improve team physically, but also emo-tionally. It gives them a

more positive outlook and motivation on their game. Coach Smith said every game is “the strength of the pack is the wolf. The strength of the wolf is the pack.” With all these new changes the football team should excel this upcom-ing season.

Gym enhances athletics

Thomas P. Franchi #67 ready for this season.

Girls volleyball practices after school.

The new weight room is used by baseball players and other athletes. Football team shows their Firebird Pride

Courtesy of Pamela OsorioCourtesy of Pamela Osorio

Courtesy of Doral Academy

By Priscilla LarreaStaff Writer MTV’s series Teen Wolf is a fascinating

show captivating the teen-age audience. Teen Wolf usually airs on Monday nights at 10pm. It seems teens couldn’t get enough of the wolf pack when the season three finale aired recently. The series re-ceived nothing but posi-tive reviews during all of its seasons and progressed developmentally. Teen Wolf became the must-watch show during the summer for teens. Teen Wolf first pre-miered in the summer of

2011. The series was creat-ed by Jeff Davis who based it off of a 1985 film with the same name. The main

character is a teenage boy named Scott McCall, played by Tyler Posey, who viewers may remem-ber from the movie Maid in Manhattan with Jenni-fer Lopez. Scott was bitten by a strange creature in the middle of the night while in the forest, not knowing it was a werewolf. The series takes viewers on Scott’s experience while becoming a werewolf him-self. His best friend Stiles, played by Dylan O’Brien, tries to help him realize

his new abilities and his weaknesses, like being a new werewolf exposed to its first full moon. This series isn’t only about action, there is also some romance involved when Scott falls in love with a new classmate by the name of Allison Ar-gent, played by Crystal Reed. Scott also gets help from another mysterious werewolf known as Derek Hale and played by Tyler Hoechlin. Derek tried to show Scott the ropes of being a werewolf, which comes with dangers, in-cluding werewolf hunters who happen to be Allison’s family. Througout the past three seasons Scott has been ex-posed to many new things in this new world. I enjoy the suspense and romance

that the show brings. I always look forward to sitting curled up on my couch on Monday nights

Teen Wolf builds fanbaseto watch Teen Wolf. The mystery and thrill always make me feel as if I’m in the show. Senior Gabriel-la Perez said,, “I think it’s a show full of excitement, it always keeps me on my toes! It mixes a lot of genres from drama to ac-tion to romance.” Just because the show involves romance doesn’t mean it’s a chick flick, many guys are into the show as well. Senior Pat-rick Downs said, “Teen Wolf is something differ-ent. The action and thrill is what draws my attention. As teenagers, the drama of the show is something we can really relate to, mi-nus all that werewolf stuff, so the show isn’t just for girls.” Fans are anxious and eager to continue watch-

ing Teen Wolf when Sea-son IV airs in January of 2014.

couresy of www.tvfanatic.com

By Jack MarquezEditor-in-Chief

On September 16,a for-

mer Navy reservist killed 12 people, leading the authorities to lock down part of the nation’s capi-tal. Even as the gunman was killed, authorities were in the pursuit of two other armed men spotted on camera. Federal offi-cials said they believe the shooting was the act of a lone gunman identified as Aaron Alexis, 34, who was working for a mili-tary subcontractor. Senior Patrick Downs said, “It’s a sad day when people go crazy and shoot out mili-tary facilities, if only we didn’t have problems like this in our world.” The chaos at the Wash-ington Navy Yard started after 8 a.m. “I heard three gunshots, pow, pow, pow, straight in a row,” said

Patricia Ward, a logistics management specialist from Woodbridge, Va. Po-lice officers on Monday

morning who swarmed the military facility ex-changed fire with Alexis, a former naval reservist in Fort Worth. He was shot to death by police officers, law enforcement officials said, but not before a doz-en people were killed and several others wounded. Officials said that Alexis drove a rental car to the base and entered us-ing his access as a contractor. He then shot an offi-cer and one other person outside the Sea Systems Command head-quarters. Inside the shooter made his way to a floor overlooking an atrium and took aim at employees

eating breakfast below. “He was shooting down from above the people, which is where he does most of his damage,” one law enforcement official said. Seven of the victims included Michael Arnold, 59; Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathy Gaarde, 62; John Roger Johnson, 73; Frank Kohler, 50; Kenneth Ber-nard Proctor, 46; and Vishnu Pandit, 61. All vic-tims were civilians or con-

tractors. No active duty military personnel were killed, according to Chief Cathy L. Lanier of Wash-ington. In total eight peo-

Shooter driven by delusionsple were injured, three of them shot, including Offi-cer Scott Williams of the Washington police. The others suffered injuries from falls or complained of chest pains. Three weapons were found on Alexis, includ-ing an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiauto-matic pistol. Officials said they were still searching for a motive as they asked the public for help by post-ing pictures of Alexis on

the F.B.I. site. The agency is treating the shooting as a criminal investigation, not one related to terror-ism.

coutesy of upi.com

courtesy of trbimg.com

Alexis accussed of killing 12

Phoenix Staff The Phoenix

Doral Academy Charter PreparatorySchool

11100 N.W 27th St Doral,Fl 33172

September 2013Issue 1

Editors in Chief

Managing editor Sports Editor Features

Adviser

Principal

Priscilla CorreaJack Marquez

Anuar Aly

Andres Taquechel

Nicole Soler

Catherine Kononoff

Douglas Rodriguez

The Phoenix is published by the Doral Academy Preparatory Journalism Department. The opinions expressed are those of individuals credited and are not to represent the entire student body or staff. The Phoenix welcomes letters to editors. Letters must be signed and submitted, and may be edited for space and content.

Staff WritersAnuar AlyChristopher AmadorRodrigo ArauzKristyann CabreraScarlett ChinchillaMateo HaydarSteven Kelly

Priscilla LarreaAlberto LemaPamela OsorioAndre PadillaAndrea SalgadoAndres Taquechel